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Internet isolation isn’t the way to go, Iran

The creation of a separate, halal internet in Iran may mark the beginnings of an online breakaway. The country's leaders proceed at their own risk

YOU can understand why Iran’s leaders might want to cut their country off from the global internet. Theirs was the nation targeted by the Stuxnet computer virus, after all. It’s somewhat unsurprising, then, to learn that Iran is quietly developing a national intranet that adheres to Islamic values, safely isolated from the World Wide Web (see “First evidence for Iran’s parallel halal internet“).

But self-defence is only part of the story. Social control is the other and Iran-watchers assume it’s a large part of the halal internet’s raison d’être. Iran’s regime knows first-hand how powerful online activism can be&colon; street protests after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s controversial re-election in 2009 were in part fomented by social media.

So will it work? Iran may be among the world’s most heavily censored nations, but it is also host to one of the Middle East’s most vibrant online communities, and previous attempts to restrict access have met with widespread resistance. Economic isolation, driven by United Nations sanctions, has already cost the country dear. Dissatisfaction is on the rise, and online isolation will only exacerbate it. Iran’s leaders proceed at their own risk.